The Power
by wolfiegirl12
Summary: The hosts think they have it all figured out.       For several years, they've been robbing humans of their identities, wiping out their minds and replacing them with creatures from other worlds.  There are, however, a few who manage to continue to exist


The bolt on the back door of the hospital wing snapped loudly, clattering to the floor from the force of Mattie's blow. She shook her hand, watching thin beads of blood begin to form on her knuckles, and stepped back to admire her quick handiwork. She glanced over her shoulder as the sound of rushing footsteps reached her ears.

"Damn it," she snarled. They were a lot closer than she'd first thought. She turned and pushed against the door, forcing it open, and burst out into the dark lot behind the hospital. Semi trucks were parked in scattered areas of the lot, no doubt filled with those weird tanks that held the Souls that Mattie had seen a few days earlier. She looked around.

_They said they'd be here, so they had damn well better be here. _She began to panic, the hair raising on her arms as the shouting grew closer. She heard the tell-tale snap of a gun being cocked. _You've got to be kidding me._

Glancing around, Mattie darted over to one of the trucks and ducked around behind it, wedging herself up under its lowered ramp. It was well past midnight, she knew, but because of that damned mistake the doctors had made with her surgery, the rays of the quarter moon were light sunlight; she could see everything in perfect detail. Even-

_Thank God. _She curled up and ducked her head, watching as Grayhound did the same from across the parking lot. A group of four black-clad men and two doctors burst out into the parking lot, talking avidly and looking around. One of the doctors ordered a split and they all went in different directions in pairs. Mattie watched them go, searching corners and empty crates, checking behind trucks. She noticed, with relief, that they were in such a hurry to find the escapees that they weren't looking _under _the trucks, where Mattie and the rest of them were hiding.

As soon as the pair in her sight had left around the other side of the building, Mattie scooted backwards back out into the open. She glanced around before straightening, brushed her shirt off, and lifted one hand to signal Grayhound. He responded with a silver flash of his eyes, unable to move freely as he had yet to get out from under his own ramp. Mattie grimaced in disgust.

"Five years of self-defense for this," she growled lowly. She looked around again, hesitant, then sprinted the forty-something yards over to Grayhound's hiding place. Grayhound had just gotten up and was helping someone else out when Mattie came up.

"You said you'd be out front," she hissed.

"I didn't have enough cover," he replied, pulling a girl who was so skinny she could've fit in a keyhole out from under the semi. "So I circled back around with the girls and Daniel and decided to wait for you here. What the hell did you do to cause such a ruckus?"

"Bad timing," she responded. "Someone gave us away; one of the naturals."

"Not a Wolfen?"

She shook her head and Grayhound sighed.

Grayhound, Mattie's childhood friend, was really named Justin. Everyone just called him Grayhound, though no one was sure why. He was seventeen, three years older than herself, with cropped brown hair and silver-tinted blue eyes. He had an athletic build and was about six feet tall, and still growing. He was Mattie's best friend.

"So where are Peter and Jodelle?" she asked, bending to help another girl-whose name was Sally-out from under the truck. She noticed one more form under the ramp-Daniel. His gleaming silver eyes peered back out at her, bearing a creepy resemblance to a cat.

"They already made it to the rendezvous point," Grayhound told her, grabbing hold of Daniel's arm and pulling him out. "They-"

The five of them all jumped, more shocked than startled, as the crack of a firing gun echoed throughout the night, shattering the silence, followed by a shrill scream. Sally's face twisted in horror.

"Jodes," she whimpered.

Mattie snarled on instinct as three of the Seekers, all carrying sniper rifles, suddenly appeared around the corner, their guns raised. _"Go!" _she shouted, grabbing Daniel and Sally's arms and pulling them out of the guns' range. She heard a bullet whiz past her head just as they rounded the back of the truck and took off across the parking lot. Mattie could just barely make out another running figure in the distance. Peter.

"Run!" she shouted. "Peter, run!"

"Watch out!" Daniel grabbed her arm and jerked her back, and Mattie watched with shock as a tranquilizer dart flew by, inches from where her shoulder would've been struck. As soon as it had passed, Daniel shoved her forward again and they both bolted after Grayhound and the two girls, Sally and Lindsay.

"Come on, come on!" Grayhound called, looking back over his shoulder at the two of them as they slowly gained on him. "Run!"

"Don't look back!" Mattie screamed, then gave a cry of pain as another gun fired, the bullet striking her heel. She fell to the ground.

"Mattie!" She looked up as Grayhound turned and ran back to her, ducking as two more guns fired, the four men and two doctors coming into the light of the streetlamps along the front lot. They shouted and ran towards them. Grayhound grabbed Mattie's wrists and hauled her to her feet.

"I can't run," she said, panicking. She looked down and saw blood pooling around her right foot, the gleam of the end of the bullet shining at the back of her heel. "For God's sake, Grayhound, I can't _run_!"

"Yes, you can," he insisted, trying to straighten her. He looked at the running figures of the others as they darted out across the street, heading for the darkness of the alleys on the other side. The rendezvous point was buried deep within those mazes, and Mattie knew Grayhound was determined to get there. He would drag her with his teeth if he had to.

"I ca-"

"_Change_, Mattie! _Now_!"

_Oh, no. You can't be serious. _Mattie looked over her shoulder, struggling as she limped alongside Grayhound. _But I guess I've-_

"Come on, Mattie, you've got no choice!" Grayhound snarled, heaving her alongside him as they slowly made their way towards the road. Their pursuers were getting closer. "Do it, now!"

"Together," she insisted. He let go of her, and they braced themselves as the Seekers stopped and raised their rifles. "One, two-"

"Three!"

They both vaulted forward, flying off their feet, arms outstretched. Mattie felt the rush of adrenaline surging through her veins, her head swimming with the whisper of the Soul. Silver light engulfed her arms, then her head, her torso…

They landed together, side by side, the pads of their fully formed paws pushing down into the gravel. Mattie gave a loud snarl as her injured foot hit the ground, but it didn't hurt as much, now that she was transformed and the power of the Wolfen had taken over.

Without looking back, she and Grayhound sprinted across the road in four giant leaps, their ears pinned and their necks outstretched, the warm summer wind blowing across their fur, their six legs pushing against the hard ground. Behind them, the doctors watched in horrified disappointment as the two Wolfens disappeared into the darkness.

And across the road, from a room in the hospital, a nurse snapped a picture.


End file.
